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Monday, 29 September 2014

Anthology: Vigil by V J Chambers

I received Vigil as a part of the Holding Out for a Superhero box set in exchange for my review.

Cecily is an intern for the Aurora Sun-Times and strikes lucky when she meets the masked vigilante, Vigil. Both Vigil and Cecily want to catch and stop the serial murder that becomes known as the Phantom, and they both want to stop him for personal reasons, though neither will reveal why to the others. Vigil can't deny the attraction he feels towards Cecily, and she can't deny it right back, leading to explosive passion despite them barely knowing each other. But all that changes when Cecily accidentally discovers the identity of Vigil as none other than Callum Rutherford, playboy millionaire and celebrity of the town. At first Cecily doesn't want anything to do with him, but slowly she comes to know the real Callum and then she just can't help herself.

Well I'm not really sure what to say about Vigil. I started reading and my main thoughts were 'wait a second, isn't this the basic plot of Batman?' and yes in some ways I do think Vigil uses the basic plotline of Batman. But it did start to pick up and I found that it was actually very easy to forget that and to let the story drag you along.

Also there were several mentions, references and even events related to The Phantom of the Opera, which is one of my all time favourite stories (though I much prefer the musical to the book which is rare!) so that definitely earned some points for the book! I did actually really like the way which the villain became the Phantom and the other references. (Lair and a woman trapped between two men? Seems familiar but I liked it).

There were a few 'shocks' in Vigil. I say 'shocks' because actually I'd figured them out already (such as the connection between Vigil and the Phantom, and Cecily's past) but I didn't think that having figured it out detracted from the story. I still really enjoyed putting the pieces together and towards the end the plots did seem to get particularly complex which I liked. Additionally the climax of the whole book really had me turning pages and wanting to know what came next, I found myself worried for the characters.

The chemistry between Vigil/Callum and Cecily was interesting. The chemistry was particularly intense between Vigil and Cecily, and though it was just as intense without the mask there was also a level of vulnerability on Callum's part which made it more interesting. In fact that was the point at which it became clearer that a relationship was growing.

The relationship between the two characters wasn't straight forward, and I did think that there was more time devoted to the two of them sorting out their issues than fighting crime (though I thought the balance was just right) and there were a fair few issues for them to solve. I actually thought that it worked well and really added a dept to both the characters as well as making their relationship seem more realistic.

I really enjoyed Vigil and I do have a hope that there may be more about Cecily and Callum in the future!

*Superheroes do it better.* From USA Today Bestselling Authors, Nana Malone and V.J. Chambers, and Bestselling Authors June Gray and Joni Hahn, four scintillating full-length romance novels featuring sexy superheroes and the strong women that prove to be their weakness.

Protector by USA Today Bestselling Author, Nana Malone - Almost one year after escaping Gentech Facilities, Symone Jackson lives in the shadows with her nightmares. Garrett Hunter thought he was one of the good guys, but on routine surveillance of a suspected terrorist, he discovers the awful truth…he’s not the only super human around.

Vigil by USA Today Bestselling Author, V.J. Chambers - A journalist intern finds herself falling for a mysterious, sexy masked man, but then discovers his secret identity is a rich playboy—who she hates.

The Origin by Bestselling Author, June Gray - For someone with unexplained powers, all Daniel Johnson wants is to live simply, detached from the rest of the world. That is until a woman from the past talks her way back into his life and he discovers that he is neither strong nor fast enough to fight off the attraction.

Agent M4: Riordan by Bestselling Author, Joni Hahn - Intent on finding the person responsible for his wrongful imprisonment, a former enemy agent turned superhero falls for a psychologist who is being pursued by a madman.